The Ones We Lost
by The Random Writer 4.0
Summary: The War of Sanctuaries is over. Darquesse has been stopped. In order to protect Valkyrie from the mages who want to kill her for what she did as Darquesse, she is sent to Hogwarts to teach physical DADA. But what happens when a certain Dark Lord is threatening the people close to Valkyrie? Valkyrie is 19. Harry and co are 16 turning 17. Set in The Half Blood Prince.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

General POV

Valkyrie stood waiting in the rain on the corner outside her parent's house. It was just about seven am. The sky was clouded and stormy, much like her mood. She still couldn't believe that they were sending her away to some magic school in the middle of nowhere to teach a bunch of brats how to punch bad guys. _Although it could be fun watching them beat each other up_, she though, smiling faintly, _but I wish I didn't have to be the one to teach them how to punch_, Valkyrie frowned again and sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. She had been doing that a lot recently.

Even though she didn't like it, she understood why they were sending her away. After Darquesse had been released, she had promptly made up for lost time. She traveled around the world killing every mage she came across. Oddly enough Darquesse never went after mortals. In fact, she made a huge effort to not even be seen by them. She managed to keep control of Valkyrie's mind for almost six months before The Dead Men were able to track her down. When they did come face to face with Darquesse they had almost been killed by her and would have been if Skulduggery hadn't managed to talk her down.

For almost two weeks Valkyrie did not speak. She had been ridden with the guilt of having killed so many innocent people. When she finally did start talking again, she refused to talk about what she had done as Darquesse. She spent every night fighting off sleep to avoid the nightmares. When she did finally collapse from the lack of sleep she was made to relive the terrible things that she had done as Darquesse. She fell into a pattern; staying awake for three to four days then crashing, exhausted. After a few weeks of this Skulduggery started to make her take sleep pills and slowly, bit-by-bit, she started to get better. She stopped having nightmares every night, she started laughing and joking with her friends again, and the look of guilt was gradually leaving her eyes.

A few months after she regaining control of her mind Ghastly had told her about Albus Dumbledore's request for a powerful mage to be sent over to teach some of the teens how to physically defend themselves, since their type of magic was confined to their wands. _Who the hell would ever want to confine their magic like that,_ she thought as she mindlessly shifted the air around her to stop the rain from falling on her. The council of Elders had decided that it would her best if she was sent away; at least until things had calmed down and people could understand that Darquesse was truly gone for good.

_**But that's not strictly true, is it Val?**_

_Shut up Darquesse._

_**And why would I do that?**_

_Because if you don't I'll…_

_**What? You'll have to say please?**_

_I'll give up magic for good._

_**You wouldn't do that…**_

_Try me._

That seemed to shut her up. Valkyrie sighed. Lately Darquesse had been talking to her more and more frequently. Valkyrie just hoped that it didn't mean that Darquesse was becoming powerful again. She didn't think that she could deal with Darquesse pestering her to let her out every time that she got into a fight.

The headlights of the Bentley hit her face, snapping her out of her thoughts. The sleek and elegant car came to a full stop in front of her. She reluctantly pulled the car door open and slid in, giving her home one last longing look. She shut the door and looked over to its driver, her mentor, and closest friend, Skulduggery Pleasant. He looked over at her silently and tilted his head, quietly asking if she was ready. Valkyrie nodded and turned away to look out the window. She felt his eyes on her for a few more seconds before he turned forwards and started to drive her away from her family and towards the dreaded school of magic.

They had been sitting for a while in silence when Skulduggery suddenly spoke up. "Are you ok Valkyrie? You're being uncharacteristically quiet."

Valkyrie sighed before turning to Skulduggery, "Yeah, I'm just kinda worried about leaving my family alone for so long. I'm worried that someone will try to hurt me through them and with me being so far away I won't be able to do anything."

"Don't worry Valkyrie. Ravel sent a couple dozen Cleavers to protect your family while you're gone."

She sighed, "I know, it's just that Tanith managed to-"

Skulduggery stopped the car abruptly and turned to her. "Valkyrie you know that there are few people who can fight like Tanith. You also know that the people who want to hurt you probably don't even know that you have a mortal family. So stop stressing yourself over it because they will be fine without you for a few months."

Valkyrie was silent for a few moments before she whispered, "But what if she gets out again?" 

Skulduggery stayed quiet as he started the Bentley up again. "Valkyrie has she been talking to you again?" he questioned, "Because if she has then you should know that you have nothing to be worried about. The head master of the school you're going to teach at this year is one of the most powerful wizards you will ever meet. If she does manage to get out which I highly doubt will ever happen again, he will be able to contain her until you can take control again." He looked over to his partner. "You just have to teach some bratty teens how to punch other people without breaking their precious little hands." He said mockingly while glancing over at her. "How hard could that be?"

Valkyrie tried and failed to hide the grin that spread across her face.

"Also," he continued, "I'm sure that Dumbledore would be fine with you beating up some of the annoying school bullies that he told me about."

"Well you know how much I love beating up bullies. Especially the annoying ones." She grinned crazily over at Skulduggery as she cracked her knuckles.

Skulduggery chuckled at her crazy smile and they soon fell into a comfortable silence as they drove towards the school where Valkyrie would be staying for the next year.

Valkyrie woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. "Valkyrie. Valkyrie wake up." Skullduggery whispered.

"Five more minutes." She moaned as she turned over in her seat. She was just drifting off to sleep again when she felt a few drops of water on her face. She turned towards the place where the water was coming from only to get a bucketful poured on her head, drenching her. She shrieked and jumped out of the car, while Skulduggery-who was wearing his façade- smirked over at her.

"We're here."

She stared at him in horror for a full three seconds before his words sunk in. She slowly turned around to face the massive castle that the Bentley was parked in front of. She tilted her head as she took in the massive castle.

"I thought it would be bigger."

Skulduggery chuckled as he walked up to Valkyrie with her bags in his hands. "This is where I leave you I'm afraid. I have to get back to Ireland. It would seem that they are panicking without me there to supervise them."

Valkyrie smiled up at him before a look of sadness crossed her face. "So this is it."

Skulduggery shrugged. "I guess so." He was suddenly enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered into her hair, "If you need anything, whether it's just to talk or you need me to come over and beat someone up for you, know you can always call me."

She pulled back, her eyes glistening. She nodded and gave him a tiny smile.

He released her and turned to walk back to the car when she spoke up. "Remove the water right now Skulduggery." she said in a half threatening, half amused voice.

He smiled to himself as he turned, reached out a hand, and remove the water from her clothing. He then opened the door of the Bentley, slid in, and drove away from Hogwarts.

Valkyrie watched as he drove away and felt a familiar pang in her heart. She shook her head as she turned back to the castle, which was to be her home for the next couple months. She smirked to herself as she grabbed her bags and marched into the massive castle.


	2. Chapter 2

**YOU MUST READ THIS OTHERWISE IT WON'T MAKE SENSE!**

**Hey guys. I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you a few things last time. First of all Ravel never betrayed The Dead Men. It was all Mist. Secondly Fletcher got Ghastly and Arron out so they're ok. Thirdly- in a way that I might explain later- they foiled Mist's plans. Last thing is that there will be Harry/Valkyrie pairing. Oh and one more thing. This is my first fanfiction ever so I'm sorry for any mistakes that I make. Criticism is welcome.**

**Peace out,**

**The Random Writer 4.0 **

Chapter 2

Harry's POV

I plopped myself down next to Ginny at the Gryffindor table. Hermione opened her mouth to start interrogating me about where I had been and why I had blood coming out of my nose, when Dumbledore stepped up to the podium to begin the announcements.

"Very best of evening to you all. First off let me introduce the newest members of our staff, Horus Slughorn. Professor Slughorn will be teaching potions. Meanwhile the position of teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts will be spilt between Professor Snape and the other new member of our staff, Detective Valkyrie Cain."

The name had barely left his mouth when the doors slammed open. All the heads in the hall snapped towards the door. A woman stood there. She had silky black hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a long black coat that went to her knees, with black pants of the same material, and sturdy knee high boots. The black metal gauntlet that rested on her left hand shimmered in the light of the candles. The black ring that sat on her right ring finger seemed to pull the shadows towards her. In a word she looked powerful. Her face stayed emotionless as she marched up to the podium. When she got there she turned to Dumbledore, looked him straight in the eye, and smiled one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. She held out her hand for Dumbledore to shake and shake it he did. "Detective Valkyrie Cain, at your service." She said with her beautiful Irish accent.

"Lovely to meet you Detective. I must say that you have impeccable timing. If you will?" Dumbledore said, motioning towards one of the empty chair behind him at the teacher's table.

She smiled again, "Thank you Professor." She scooted around the table and sat herself down next to Hargrid and Snape. She turned to both of them, one at a time, and shook their hands. Snape whispered something in her ear and I could see her eyes widen by a fraction.

Valkyrie's POV

"Now as you know you were all searched upon your arrival at Hogwarts, and I believe that you deserve to know why. There was once a young man who sat in this very hall-"

I had stopped listening as I started to zone out about what I was actually going to teach. I mean it wasn't like I had anything planned.

_When in doubt, punch._

I nodded my head absentmindedly at my stray though.

_That sounds just about right._

"Now off to bed." My head snapped up as I heard Dumbledore speak those last words.

"Detective Cain?" Professor McGonagall asked, "If you'll follow me to your room."

I stood and nodded to her. She led me up a series of stairs to a painting of a fat singing lady. She muttered the password, "Pear drops." and waited while the picture swung open before passing through. I followed her past the painting, and into a passageway that had a door at the end.

"Normally we would have you in one of the teachers rooms but because of the need for Authors and places for them to sleep you'll be staying in the apartment across the common room from mine in the Gryffindor dorm for the year." She stopped and looked over at me, especially eyeing my gauntlet. Her eyes seemed to be silently asking why I had it on.

I looked down at it. "I wear this gauntlet in memory of the friends I lost in the War of the Sanctuaries. This gauntlet saved my life many times and without it many of my friends would be dead too." I glanced up at her, "That's why I wear it. Because it saves lives and holds important memories."

She smiled at me in a mothering sort of way and patted my arm. "Well then dearie I wouldn't dream of asking you to take it off." She turned to continue down the passageway and pushed the door open. Inside it was chaos. There were both boys and girls around seventeen and eighteen chattering, jumping on the chairs, and some were even swinging from the banisters. They seemed oblivious to me and Professor McGonagall, who was standing next to me silently fuming.

"Silence!" she yelled, causing every student to freeze in their places. Their heads slowly swiveled in our direction and gasps were heard among the group. I could feel their curious gazes switching from me to Professor McGonagall

"You surely all know who Detective Cain is. She will be staying in the apartment on the other side of the dorm. Now if she asks you where something is please be as helpful as possible. This is after all her first time here. Now everyone go to bed." The group slowly started to split into two groups; the girls going one way and the boys going the other.

"Mr. Potter. Can you please stay for a moment." A dark haired boy turned around and immediately his eyes found mine. Looking into his eyes I found something so familiar that I had to stop for a moment to take another look, lest I be wrong. Unfortunately I wasn't as I could see the hidden sadness in his eyes that only comes from the loss of a close friend or family. It was so familiar because that was the same thing that I saw every time I looked in the mirror. The look of 'if only I had done more they would be alive'. I saw that look in Ghastly's eyes ever since he found Tanith's mangled and bloodied corpse.

"Detective Cain, this young man is Harry Potter. Now Mr. Potter would you please escort the Detective to her apartment."

He turned and nodded to the Professor. "Right this way Detective." He said softly, motioning towards another passageway. Professor McGonagall nodded to herself and strode in the opposite direction to what I assumed was her apartment.

He watched the professor leave and when she was out of sight he turned back to me. A smile touched his lips as his gaze found mine. "Shall we?" he asked gently, holding out his arm for me to take. I smiled back in amusement and answered, "Yes we shall." as I hooked my arm through his. He started to steer me towards the passageway.

"So, Harry", I began, grinning up at him, "Are you excited about my Defense Against the Dark Arts class?"

"Yeah, I guess." he shrugged, "What exactly are you going to teach us?"

My grin grew. "So Dumbledore didn't tell you?"

He shook his head. "So what are you going to be teaching us?" he asked, fixing his gaze on me. I internally gulped.

"Well that's for me to know and you to find out. Tomorrow."

He nodded and we fell into a comfortable silence. We soon walked through the passageway. I could see that there was a large wooden door at the end of it. As we neared it I started to internally panic at the thought of being all alone once more. We separated when we arrived at the door and I went to open the door when his voice stopped me.

"Um Detective Cain? I don't suppose you would like to, I don't know, come out with my friends next weekend?" he mumbled. "I mean, it's just that you're here for the first time and you haven't made any friends yet so I thought you might want some." I turned back to him with a giant smile on my face.

"I would love to." I gushed. Realizing how eager I must have seemed I ducked my head in embarrassment. I heard his soft laugh and I mock-glared up at him, my embarrassment forgotten. "I'll see you in class tomorrow." He said to me before he hurried back down the passageway. I watched him retreat and sighed.

_**What, are you so desperate for friends that you'll befriend a sixteen year old? How pathetic.**_

_Could you please just shut up for one freaking second._

_**How about this: if I stay quiet now you let me out for an evening?**_

_How about you shut up, and I won't ask Albus to find a way to expel you from my mind?_

She was silent once more. I sighed for what must have been the twentieth time that night and turned around. I pushed the door open to a small and simple living room. There were two doorways, and while one led to a small kitchen, the other led to a simple bedroom with a bed smack in the center. I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry I took so long on this chapter but life got in the way. This is my longest chapter ever, over 2,500 words! I'm sorry for any mistakes. **

**I own none of the characters.**

**Peace out,**

**The Random Writer 4.0 **

Chapter 3

Valkyrie's POV

It wasn't the sounds of birds singing, the excited voices of the students in the halls, or the quiet knocking at the door that woke me up. No, instead it was Pink's song "So What" blasting from my phone. I jumped and promptly fell out of bed. Stupid Skulduggery. He must have set an alarm for me. That butt face.

It was then that I realized that someone was knocking at my door. I walked over and opened it to find the hallway completely empty. At my feet there was a sheet of paper with the words "Professor Valkyrie Cain Class Schedule". I crouched down and grabbed it off the floor. Quickly scanning it, I learnt that I had my first class at 9am in a classroom on the seventh floor. How I was going to get there I didn't know. I shrugged to myself. _I'll find it somehow._

I quickly jumped into the shower in the drab bathroom and got changed into the same outfit that I had been wearing yesterday. Pulling on the gauntlet and my ring, I pushed a brush through my hair. Finally ready I exited my room and headed to the hall that I had been in last night.

As I walked to the 'Great Hall', I passed small clusters of students who, once they saw me, started whispering among themselves. By the time I reached the Great Hall I was fairly certain that I had inspired more people to whisper about me than the oh so terrifying Dark Lord. _I guess I look scarier. _I smirked to myself.

Passing under the high arch of the doorway into the Great Hall I found myself in front of the same mass of students that I saw last night. However, while they had been almost silent last night, today in the light of a new day there was an undignified amount of noise coming from them.

I spotted Harry at one of the tables and decided to sit with him and his friends, rather than the aged teachers sitting at the table at the end of the hall. Striding over to him, I notice that a sudden hush came over the students as they spotted me walking over to the table. Grinning to myself I walked silently up next to him. "Anyone sitting here?" I murmured by his ear.

He jumped slightly at my voice. He glanced back at me and I could see him relax instantly. "Nope. You're welcome to sit here." He grinned up at me.

I smiled back and plunked myself down next to him. Across from me a girl with brown bushy hair and a boy with ginger stared at me. The boy's mouth had fallen open and I could see the half eaten food in there. I reached my hand across the table to the girl.

"Detective Valkyrie Cain. And you are?"

That seemed to shake her out of her shocked state. "Hermione Granger." She said, accepting my hand. "And this is Ron Weasley. He does this with all new people." She explained, motioning to the boy who sat next to her.

I grinned at Hermione. "So are you excited about classes?"

She tilted her head, observing me closely and narrowing her eyes slightly. "Yes I guess so. But we still don't know what you're teaching us, so now I have no way of prepping for your class!" she finished, clearly upset.

"Ah but that's the best thing about my class. There is nothing you can do to prepare for it. You're going to be thrown into the metaphorical deep end before you've learnt to swim. It's kinda like life. There's nothing you can do to prepare yourself. You just have to jump in and hope for the best."

"So what you're saying is that you aren't going to even-"

"Hermione. Calm down." Harry's voice seemed to sooth her and she visibly relaxed. Ron was still staring at me with an expression akin to a goldfish.

"You should shut your mouth Ron. You might catch a fly." I smiled sweetly over at him. His mouth flew shut and he looked over at me apologetically. He swallowed what ever there had been in his mouth and chocked a little on it before shoveling more food in. I winced internally. "You know that the food isn't going to disappear Ron. You can slow down."

He looked up, embarrassment showing clearly on his face. Suddenly confusion flashed across his face. "Shouldn't you be sitting with the rest of the teachers?" He questioned. At this question Harry and Hermione both turned to me with raised eyebrows.

"Well you guys are a lot closer to my age than the other teachers. And anyway I'll find out more about the school from you guys than any of the other teachers."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Ron! It's rude to ask a woman about her age!"

"That's ok Hermione. I'm nineteen."

"And if you what do you mean 'learn more about the school from us than the teachers'? They've been here for far longer than us."

"Well you know what people are like when the adults aren't around. You know who's popular, who likes who, and who these school bullies who I've been hearing about are."

The trio exchanged a glance at the mention of the so-called 'bullies'.

Harry was the first to speak up. "I think the people you've heard about are Draco Malfoy and his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle."

Hermione nodded. "They target people who are muggle born or even half muggle."

"Or people whose families aren't as rich as his family." Ron finished looking down.

I frowned and leaned forwards on my elbows. "Has he been bulling you guys?"

They all slowly nodded.

"Why?" I asked bewildered as to why anyone would bully them.

"Because my family isn't very rich." Ron muttered.

"Because I refused his friendship." Harry mumbled.

"Because I was born into a muggle family." Hermione whispered.

At Hermione's words, I felt a cold anger fill me to my very core. "And what does this Draco boy look like." I said, my tone deathly calm. Harry pointed to a smirking boy with greasy blond hair at the next table. He reeked of arrogance and self-importance. I hate arrogant people.

I smiled thinly at the trio in front of me. "Well we'll just have to take care of him, won't we?" Before they could answer I grabbed an apple and got up. "I'll see you three in class." I called over my shoulder as I hurried away to find my classroom.

After a couple wrong turns and a particularly nasty argument with a nearly headless ghost, I finally found my classroom. It was a huge room, empty apart from the large wooden desk at the front, clearly meant for the teacher, and the few desks meant for students. On the far wall vast windows open up to show the picturesque view of the Forbidden Forest, which I thought looked like it would be fun to hike in. Since the classroom was in one of the highest towers I also had a stunning view of the grounds of Hogwarts.

_Right, I'm not going to get anything ready by standing around! _I thought to myself as I began levitating the desks so that they were lined up against the wall, giving me more room for my lesson. When that was done I opened the windows to let some fresh air in. I perched on my desk and started eating my apple as my thoughts drifted to Harry. He was an odd person. He always seemed so confidant but last night he had acted so nervous when he asked me out. I smiled at the memory. After all it isn't every day you get asked out by such an amazingly confusing person.

I stood and threw the remainder of my apple in the trashcan next to my desk. I checked the time on my phone as I pulled the classroom's door open. It was eight fifty five. I smirked as a truly evil plan hatched in my mind.

I ran up the side of the room, my heart stinging slightly as I remembered the days when Tanith would sneak me over to her house to secretly teach me how to master her magical skill. Using the shadows to hide myself on the high ceiling, I sat cross-legged and waited for my unsuspecting victims to enter the classroom. After what seemed like an eternity, students started trickling into the room. Most of them seemed surprised as they took in the empty room and open windows. I spotted Harry, Hermione, and Ron walk in and I immediately felt a little better about the class, knowing that they at the very least wouldn't think I was a complete idiot.

I heard a bell ringing, indicating that it was nine o'clock and the start of classes. Show time.

Harry's POV

As the bell rang and class started several things happened. First Valkyrie fell from the ceiling and landed perfectly on her feet facing us, with a cute mischievous grin on her face. Then Draco screamed like a little girl and jumped into Crabbe's arms. And to top it all off Neville fainted.

I glanced down at Neville and then back to Valkyrie, whose eyebrow was raised at Draco's scream. Her gaze shifted over to Neville and a look of concern passed over her face so quickly I couldn't be sure if it had even been there.

"He does that a lot." I explained to her. She raised an eyebrow again, unconvinced.

"Right then. Lean him against the wall until he comes around." She directed at Ron and me. We nodded and pulled poor Neville over to the wall, leaning him against it like she had asked.

General POV

"Good morning class. My name is Detective Valkyrie Cain, and you can call me Detective Valkyrie Cain, Your all mighty Eminence or simply Detective Cain. I much prefer the last one. Your all mighty Eminence gets to be quite a mouthful after a while. So, you must all be wondering what this class will be teaching you. But before I tell you I want to get to know you all a little better. So when I call your name for the register I want you to say 'here' and tell me something interesting about yourself. It could be that your favorite book is Winnie the Pooh; it could be that you have lived in America for the past ten years. Anything that you think would be interesting or funny to share with me. Ok?"

They all nodded and she smiled back at them as she grabbed the register off her desk and perched herself on it.

"Annabel Gingerhorn?"

"Here. I think that clowns are terrifying."

Valkyrie laughed. "Yeah me too. Jim Doubtfire?"

"Here. I once accidently set my sisters hair on fire."

It continued on like this for a while, with Valkyrie stopping sometimes to giggle at the stories.

"Hermione Granger?"

"Here. My parents are-"

"Mudblood." Draco coughed.

Harry became painfully aware of the silence that fell over the room as well as Valkyrie's gaze. Her dark brown eyes seemed to bore into Draco. She slowly stood and took her time striding over to where Draco was standing. "What did you just say?" her voice was cold and deadly as she stared Draco down. He seemed surprised for a second before foolishly puffing his chest out and stating proudly, "I call her a Mudblood because she is. Filthy little-" he found that her couldn't finish his sentence as Valkyrie leaned towards him until they were almost nose to nose.

"You know I've been tortured over two dozen times in the past eight years, and along the way I've picked up a few tips. If I ever hear you using that word against anyone, student or otherwise, I will use every type of torture known and unknown to the general public on you. Got it?"

Draco nodded, his face turning white and his eyes widening to the point where Ron thought that they were going to fall out of his head.

Valkyrie pulled back and smiled sweetly. "Good. Now Mrs. Granger, if you will continued from where you were before you were so rudely interrupted?"

Hermione nodded and continued. Once everyone had introduced himself or herself, Valkyrie finally decided to explain the class.

"So as you know your type of magic is channeled through your wands which you can then use to cast spells with. Yes Mrs. Granger?"

"What do you mean 'your type of magic'? I thought that wizards were the only human like species to use magic?"

"Well no. What I mean is that there are three main types of human looking magic users. They are wizards, like yourselves, mages, and warlocks." She shuddered slightly at the last one. "They all look and act like normal humans but they each control and harness the magic that is inside of themselves in different ways. For you, the magic you have is harnessed in your wands. For mages, they harness their magic within their bodies. Warlocks do this as well except their magic is a lot more limited as they can only really do one thing. Warlocks are on the brink of extinction, with there being only about two thousand of them left. Anyway that's not what this class is about. In this class I will be teaching you how to physically defend yourselves."

Draco, who had seemingly recovered from his terror of Valkyrie, snorted. "Why would we ever need to physically defend ourselves?" he smirked. "We have magic."

Valkyrie didn't even bother to turn to Draco as she answered. "Yes, magic that you can only use by pointing a shard of wood and muttering some words in Latin but tell me what do you do if your wand is stolen or broken?"

He chose to stay silent.

"That's what I thought. Now for today I'm just going to teach you how to block a punch. It's very simple and I'm sure even Draco can figure out how to do it."

Laughter echoed across the classroom as Valkyrie continued to teach them the proper way to block punches, kicks, and really everything else that she could think of, still stopping to joke around with them. By the end of class everyone had had a great time and were almost sad to leave. Except for Draco. He had had a terrible time as he failed time and time again to block punches, leaving him with small but noticeable bruises.

"Alright everyone. You all did a wonderful job today. Try to practice some of the blocks you learnt today. Our next class is Wednesday so I'll see you then. Class dismissed." People started to shuffle out of the classroom, talking excitedly among themselves. "Oh, but can Mrs. Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Potter stay for a moment please?"

The trio stopped, surprised and headed back towards where Valkyrie was standing. She waited until everyone else had left before closing the door and turning to the three young students in front of her.

"The reason I asked you to stay is because I know how much trouble you get into each year." She raised a hand to silence them before they could protest. "I understand that it's not at all your fault. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to have extra classes to try and learn things that will be really useful."

"Like what?" Hermione questioned.

"Like my type of magic. I'm not certain but I think that you three might be able to harness the magic inside you to preform the type off magic I use. You don't have to decide now, just give me an answer by the end of the week. Now shoo, go on to your next class."

They hurried out of the door just before Valkyrie's next class started tromping in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. So this chapter didn't go as I had planned but my fingers had other ideas for this story. But that's ok because it turned out fine. (I think.)**

**Remember reviews=food for my ego=more chapters.**

**Peace out,**

**The Random Writer 4.0**

Chapter 4

Valkyrie's POV

I sighed as I walked to dinner on Friday. It had been a terribly long week. The story of my threating Draco and my sudden appearance in that first class on Monday had flown about the school, making me a great subject for gossip. On the upside Hermione, Ron, Harry, and I had become closer over the week, although I still hadn't told them what my powers were. It had become sort of a game. They each had one chance to guess what my powers were. So every mealtime we would sit down and begin the guessing. It was really quite funny seeing as they knew next to nothing about mages.

I strode into the Great Hall, acutely aware of the silence that fell over the students as they spotted me. I frowned to myself as I headed to the Gryffindor table. "What's going on guys?" I questioned the trio as I seated myself beside Ron. They exchanged a nervous glance.

"You mean you don't know?" Hermione whispered, with a scared look on her face.

I frowned deeper. "No. Now will someone please tell me what's going on?"

Harry sighed. "Earlier there was a man who came in the castle demanding to see you. But the thing is he shouldn't have been able to get into the school grounds. You see Dumbledore place charms around the school grounds so no one can come in unless he invites them in or…"

"Or what?"

"Or Dumbledore is dead."

His statement was met with my stunned silence. "What did this man look like?" I whispered so lowly that only they could hear me.

"Everyone is saying different things. But there is one thing that everyone seems to be agreeing on."

"And what would that be?"

"He has no eyes."

Harry's POV

Valkyrie had turned as white as a sheet by the time I had finished my sentence. A look of terror settled over her features. I shuddered to think of who this man was if he could scare the fearless woman in front of me.

"Did they catch him? Where is he now? Where is Dumbledore?" She fired question after question at me.

"I think that he's talking to Dumbledore in his office."

I didn't think it was possible but she grew even paler than she had been before. Before I could ask her who this man was she bolted out of the Great Hall. I jumped up and sprinted after her, with Ron and Hermione hot on my heels. She rushed up to Dumbledore's office and barged in. The scene that met us was shocking to say the least. The eyeless man was threating Dumbledore with a razor. He turned when the door had been burst open. When he saw who was standing in the doorway, he grinned unpleasantly at Valkyrie.

"Well hey there lil' darling." He spoke with a Texan accent. He quickly glanced behind her and when his gaze fell on us his grin widened. "I see you brought me some new friends."

"Leave them alone Billy-Ray. I am in no mood to deal with your bullshit today." Valkyrie growled threating.

His laugh echoed through the room. "See this is why I miss ya. I missed our banter. But it isn't half the fun without Funny Bones. Where is he exactly?"

She stayed silent.

"Ah so he abandoned you here with a bunch of brats. I thought so. Though after what you did I'm surprised he didn't just kill ya!"

"Billy-Ray, I'm going to give you two options. You can leave and never return, or I can arrest you for the murder of Tanith Low." She ended her sentence in a whisper; her eyes burning with anger and unshed tears.

The smile faded from his face as he tensed at the name. He started shaking in rage. "You have no right to blame me for that! I didn't even know that she was out of the apartment until I heard her scream. I ran outside and found her like that. Then you, Ugly, and Funny Bones show up thinking that I did it. But I didn't. I loved her."

"You never loved her! And she never loved you! She was just using you, you pathetic excuse for a man!" Valkyrie screamed at him. Losing his cool Billy-Ray launched himself at Valkyrie, tackling her to the ground. As soon as they touched the floor they sunk into it, leaving us shocked and Dumbledore utterly confused. Moments later there was a rumbling sound as Valkyrie reappeared with the man in what looked like a painful headlock. She slapped a pair of handcuffs on the man and turned to Dumbledore.

"Albus is there anywhere where I could put him while I call in back up?"

"Yes I believe there is some space in the dungeons. I can show you where they are if you wish."

Valkyrie smiled gratefully and my stomach started fluttering. I started to follow them but Hermione stopped me before I could get very far. "Harry if you want to talk to her wait until later. I'll tell her to meet you in front of her room just after curfew." She muttered under her breath. I nodded and headed off to my room to get my homework done.

Valkyrie's POV

_How the hell did he find me here?_

_**Maybe a certain Grand Mage didn't want you to be a problem any more.**_

_Seriously? That's what you came up with? You realize that he knows if I die he will release you right?_

_**Maybe he forgot?**_

_Wow. I think you're actually getting dumber._

_**Shut up.**_

_Only if you will._

It was still puzzling me how the hell Billy-Ray found me. Ravel assured me that the only people who knew where I was were the Dead Men and…China. That bitch sold me out. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and quickly dialed his number.

"Hello?" his silky smooth voice greeted me.

"Hey Skulduggery. You'll never guess who found me."

"Would it happen to be Billy-Ray Sanguine?"

"How the hell did you know?"

"Saracen. He came in a few minutes ago saying that he knew you were being attacked by that idiot. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, a couple bruises and a broken rib or two. I'll be fine. That's not why I called. I need Ravel to send a couple Cleavers take Sanguine away. As much as I would love to I'm not exactly the best interrogator. I also figured that Ghastly might want to have a little chat with him."

"I'll tell his eminence right away. I hope that you haven't punched too many people yet."

"Don't worry. I've only threatened one student with torture."

Skulduggery let out a deep chuckle. He paused when I didn't laugh with him. "Seriously Valkyrie? That's actually a little scary."

"Oh is da wittle skeleton detective scwared of the big bad Valkyrie?"

"Shut up."

"Sorry I can't. It's in my contract that I have to tense you as much as possible."

"Ha, ha very funny. Ravel is going to send them now. They should get there by tomorrow. Do you think you can possibly survive until then?"

"It will be the most difficult quest but I will rise to the challenge and slay the dragon."

There was a long pause. "You're really weird, you know."

I giggled. "And that's why you love me."

He grunted. "I swear you're getting odder every year that you live."

"Yep." I replied popping the p.

"I'll talk to you later. Oh and Val?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to strangle anyone before the Cleavers get there."

"No promises."

Skulduggery hung up, chuckling to himself. I smiled to myself before I remembered whom I had cuffed in front of me. I pushed him down the stairs after Dumbledore. Once I found some chains I placed a magic binding charm on them, that Skulduggery had taught me and chained Billy-Ray so that he was hanging slightly off the floor. Just incase the chains didn't work.

"Is all of this necessary detective?" Dumbledore questioned from behind me.

"Trust me when I say this Albus. This man is extremely dangerous. He would kill us both in a heartbeat and sleep like a baby. He is a heartless bastard who got my sister killed. If you weren't here then honestly I would kill him myself."

"Oh. Well then I suppose it was good of you to stop him, and I thank you profoundly."

"No problem Albus. I'm just wondering how he managed to get past the Authors in the castle."

"Ah yes, well I invited him up to my office so we could have a small chat and a cup of tea."

I blinked. "You invited a psychotic mass murderer into your office for _tea?"  
_

"Yes well it probably wasn't the best of ideas. Anyway, thank you for saving my life and I expect the lives of some of the students. Is there anything I could do in return?" he led the way up the stairs as he said this.

I tilted my head in thought. "I'll think about it." I finally answered.

"Good, good. Now I think that Mrs. Granger wishes to speak with you." He nodded off to his side as we came to the top of the stairs. Indeed, he was right. Hermione was standing, waiting for me. I nodded respectfully to Dumbledore and strode over to her.

"Hey Hermione. What do you need to talk to me about?"

She observed me silently before answering. "Me, Harry, and Ron have decided to accept your offer for you to teach us a little more self defense."

"Ok, great. Let's talk later about when and where." I started to leave when her arm shot out and grabbed my arm. I tensed, and then turned to look back at her.  
She released my arm quite quickly.

"I was just wondering how you can tell if we're magical like you."

I smiled softly over at her. "I promise I'll explain during our lessons."

She nodded, looking at little put off as I headed back to my room to collapse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys. So this chapter took a little longer than I thought that it would because I've also started another crossover for Skulduggery Pleasant. It's an Avengers story so if you could please go and read it and tell me whether I should continue it or not that would be fantastic. It's called 'Faces From Our Pasts". Thank you so much for your reviews. I read all of them, and I'm so happy that you guys like the story. I'll try and update as soon as I can. School has started once more so I won't have as much time to write. PS There will be a Valkyrie pairing in this story and it will be revealed in the next chapter. If you guess what it will be I'll send you virtual cookies.**

**Peace out,**

**The Random Writer 4.0**

Chapter 5

Valkyrie's POV

I groaned as I awoke to a heavy pounding in my head and the bitter taste of alcohol in my mouth. I rolled over in the warmth of my bed while remembering what had happened the night before.

* * *

(Flashback)

I sighed as I poured myself another drink. Seeing Billy-Ray brought up painful memories of Tanith. Like how she couldn't go into a fight without goading her adversary. And how she used to knock me on my ass during training. And the day when we first met. I remember it as well as if it had been yesterday. But it didn't matter anymore. Because Tanith was dead. D-E-A-D. And there was nothing I could do to change that.

_**Well if you want we could torture Billy-Ray. It might not change anything, but if will feel amazing.**_

_Yeah, I guess we could._

_**Really?**_

_God no. You may be getting dumber but I'm still pretty smart._

_**So does that mean you don't want to torture Billy-Ray anymore?**_

_Of course I do. I'll just be doing it alone. Emphases on _alone_. _

_**Spoilsport.**_

I grabbed the bottle of scotch and took a long swig.

_This is going to be a long night._

(End of Flashback)

* * *

I moaned as the pounding in my head got to the point where I felt nauseous. I fell of of bed and after running a brush through my messy hair got dressed in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans with a white tank top and a black hoodie with my everyday protective boots. When I was finally ready I stumbled out of my apartment and made my way slowly downstairs, wincing when the small groups of teenagers who were walking around the halls were talking too loudly.

Upon reaching the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey hurried over to me with a potion in hand and a lecture on her tongue. Just as she was getting into the reasons why I shouldn't be drinking at Hogwarts, I interrupted her to ask if she could brew the potion in bulk and have it delivered to my room as soon as possible before rushing out of the Hospital Wing, leaving an open mouthed Madam Pomfrey behind me. Upon arriving at my destination, The Great Hall, I made my way over to where Hermione was sitting alone reading an old looking book. "Hey." I muttered as I plonked down next to her. "Where are Harry and Ron?" I asked as I started filling up my plate with bacon, french toast, and scrambled eggs.

She glanced up at me with an annoyed look on her face. "I expect that they're rushing to get dressed and get down here before breakfast ends, like they do every weekend." I nodded and began eating my breakfast as we fell into a comfortable silence.

About twenty minutes later Harry and Ron sprinted in and managed to each grab a bread roll, just before the rest of the food disappeared off the table. "Nice timing guys." I snorted at their crestfallen faces. "Come on, I'm sure you can get something to eat at Hogsmeade, right?" They nodded sulkily as Hermione and I stood and lead the way out of the Great Hall and into the courtyard where McGonagall gave us the go ahead to leave for Hogsmeade early. We chatted as we walked about everything and anything. I had just finished telling them about the time that I was almost eaten by a yeti when we finally reached our destination. The trio pulled me through the streets of Hogsmeade and proceeded to give me an official tour, which included stops to several different shops, after which they pulled me into a pub called the Three Broomsticks. I glanced at the wrist watch that Ghastly gave me for my seventeenth birthday and realized that it was already a quarter past one. We sat down at a table and Harry ordered us all a drink called Butterbeer, and we each ordered something for lunch.

Just as we were getting comfortable at our table, Ron let out a low groan and buried his face in his hands. "What's wrong Ron?" Hermione questioned with a concerned look on her face. The only response she got was a wave of a hand towards a young couple in a booth. The boy was fair skinned and tall with short blond hair and the girl was petite with the same flaming red hair as Ron. They were passionately kissing, to Ron's obvious discomfort, and I was about to offer for us to leave early when a very tipsy Professor Slughorne stumbled over to us and invited us all, apart from Ron, to his dinner party. By the time he had finally decided to amble his way back to the bar for more firewhisky, Ron's sister, who I was told was called Ginny, and her partner were gone. We continued to talk of the adventures we had had over the years, and we left the pub in high spirits. Ron insisted we make a stop at a shop named Honeydukes, which turned out to be a huge candy store. I grabbed some dark chocolate for later and after paying lead the way out, where I promptly crashed into someone else. I fell to the ground, letting out a small 'oof' as I landed. A hand came into my line of vision and I grasped it firmly. In a second I found myself nose to nose with an extremely handsome man. His clear blue eyes- which contrasted amazingly well with his ginger hair- met mine as he looked me over for injuries. "Are you ok?" he questioned. I nodded slightly and a smile broke out on his perfect face.


End file.
